Back bench member of parliament Douglas Alexander has been
announced as the new e-Minister, replacing Patricia Hewitt who has
become Trade and Industry Secretary. Mr Alexander, a Glasgow lawyer
who is the MP for Paisley South in Scotland, recently helped run
the Labour Party election campaign alongside the chancellor Gordon
Brown.
The appointment will be Mr Alexander’s first ministerial post. He
has previously been concerned with electoral reform and served as a
member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.
The job description of the e-Minister is to provide “political
leadership across Government in driving forward the Government's
objectives on e-commerce.” There is also a Minister for
e-Government, who has “particular responsibility within that wider
framework for delivery of e-Government objectives.” In addition,
there is an e-Envoy, whose role was recently described as
“galvanising business in the UK to face up to the challenges of
e-commerce, to provide strategic input into the development of
e-Government, to promote the UK's e-commerce strategy abroad and to
ensure that the benefits of e-commerce are spread throughout
society.”
